Politics

Bob Katter shouldn’t hold his breath waiting for an invitation to his brother Carl’s wedding, should such an event occur.

Only a week ago the big-hatted Queensland MP told a rally of Christians and family advocates in Canberra that the very idea of gay marriage deserves to be laughed at and ridiculed — it doesn’t deserve any serious treatment.

His brother Carl last night burst on to the nation’s television screens to announce that, as it happened, he was homosexual — and if he met a man he’d like to spend his life with, he’d hope to marry him — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Talkback host Alan Jones fired up a crowd of protesters to turn on a Herald reporter today after she asked if he had been paid to appear at the rally in Canberra.

Journalist Jacqueline Maley said Jones looked outraged when she asked him if he had accepted a fee to be at the rally, made up of protesters who converged on Canberra in trucks, caravans and cars.

She said he had angrily asked her what kind of a question was that and who did she think she was — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Faith, however, puts you outside the realm of intellectual honesty. Don’t think, it demands; the ancients have already done that for you. This freedom to believe without thinking allows for the continuation of otherwise unjustifiable prejudices into adulthood and makes it possible for svelte Christian honeys like Rebecca Hagelin to jetset around giving off spleen about the lives of others.

The Australian Family Association, a Christian lobby group, booked The Great Hall in Parliament House on Monday and had Rebecca, an author of Christian self-help books, fly in from whatever part of the States they are still free to revile queers.

She spoke of same-sex marriage, and to hear her on the radio name-checking Sodom and Gomorrah made me stop in my tracks. She said there was no greater evil than the forces who proposed to legalise gay marriage and that we were in a war for the future of the human race — via redwolf.newsvine.com

In what appears to be a ramp-up of celebrity support, famous graphic novel author Alan Moore Monday issued a statement in praise of PFC Bradley Manning. Manning is the GI accused of leaking classified US government documents to WikiLeaks — via redwolf.newsvine.com

Like the river that bears his name, Fred Nile is ancient, salty, shallow, full of sediment, has dubious sources, causes conflicts between every country he passes through, and takes a very long time to reach a conclusion.

He also terminates in a large estuarine delta, was used as a means of transport by ancient kings, and is implicated in the drowning deaths of many thousands of Egyptians. But what he does in his downtime is none of our concern.

What he does in Australian schools definitely is.

And what he’s doing in New South Welsh schools — attempting to banish alternatives to Christian theological classes — is just one part of a deeply worrying trend of hardline Christian activists getting access to young children, and doing so on the government dollar — via redwolf.newsvine.com

By all means, Mr Nile, you go out and be as Christian as you want; I respect that entirely. But that does not give you and your supporters the right to attempt to shape a future generation of adults in your mould – that is a religious conservative.

Your views are out of step with modern society, so I would ask you to reconsider your actions and continue to allow parents and children a choice in their classrooms.

So Mr Nile, I would be delighted if you would come and actually observe our ethics classes, so that you can see first-hand how they work.

And Premier Barry O’Farrell you promised to keep ethics classes. Mr Nile is trying to make you break your promises and undermine what you stand for.

I trust you not to be manipulated by a man who on Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras gets down on his knees and prays for rain.

Charlie Fine is 11 years old and attends a public school in the eastern suburbs of Sydney — via redwolf.newsvine.com

The Gillard Government has this week undermined the Labor Party’s long tradition of fairness and social justice. Enough’s enough, says party member Jenny Haines — and she’s not the only one.

Labor Party members are fed up. They are sick of being ignored, especially over refugee and asylum seeker issues. The divide between the politicians in government in Canberra and the party rank-and-file is growing — via redwolf.newsvine.com